The Shadows That RemainRating: PG-13A Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion fic - CHAPTER08Shadow Chaser

Reincarnation

Overcast skies greeted Alec as he walked into the police station, holding Anna’s hand. Though he had a very faint memory of what happened last night, he knew that his love for Anna had been reaffirmed ... even though the concept of him being a character that was apparently true from J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels was still a bit absurd. A part of him, the rational part of a police officer, told him that he was too stressed and had been having hallucinations, but another part told him that it was true ... he was or formerly was Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar Telcontar the king of all the Reunited Lands of Middle Earth.

And Anna was Arwen Undomiel, his wife, or past wife ... or was it future wife?

Shaking his head, Alec pushed the door open to the common room to find it bustling once again with morning activities. The somberness from last night had disappeared if not completely as it tended to be a daily or weekly thing that they loose police officers in Mage attacks. Most people tended to grieve for a short time before moving on with their lives. It was how New York worked these days, as if grieving too long got you nowhere and getting nowhere meant getting dead.

Letting go of Anna’s hand he sat down in front of his desk and started up his computer, and logged onto the recent criminal files that were the latest as patrol cars and copters flew around almost minute-to-minute, scouting the whole metropolitan area. Already the information at least ten minutes old was on the bottom of a very long list and new information was pouring in from the various patrol cars.

A shuffle of a chair told him that Anna had settled next to him, and he could almost see the imperceptible customary frown on her face whenever she was looking through information. He himself was staring at the information too ... Mage attacks ... more Mage attacks ... a double suicide murder attempt in the Queens area ... nothing new there ...

As he stared at the information, Alec made a mental note to check with Ben to tell him that the increase of Mage attacks, whether Techno or Iri, had been increasing steadily over the last few years, spiking a few times in this past year. It was as if some kind of collective grouping of evil was happening and it was making their lives and jobs a lot tougher as the days wore on.

Sighing he leaned back and rolled his shoulders, feeling his bones pop in and out as he tried to unknot a muscle that somehow got cramped up during his sleep last night. “They’re all the same ... Mage attacks and more Mage attacks. Throw in a few murders and we have a salad on our hands,” he glanced at Anna who raised her eyebrows at his attempted joke.

“If it wasn’t disgusting, I’d laugh,” she replied deadpan then looked up beyond him and Alec turned to see Robert walking in with David holding onto one of his fingers, a wide grin on his face and him skipping slightly.

“Hey Robert, David,” Alec greeted his friend and the little boy.

“Hi, Uncle Alec,” David replied cheerfully then tugged on Robert’s hand, “Uncle Robert, can I get one of those hot chocolates that you’d promised last night?”

“Sure, just ask one of the people in the kitchen to help you, okay?” Robert gave David a little push towards the direction of the kitchenette then turned and gave a tired smile at Alec. “I think he’s gotten over the death of his sister ... though he’s an active little child. My wife and I entertained him last night at our house ... you know we’re going to have to find him a foster home ...”

“Or you can adopt him,” Alec shrugged, “you two seem to get along amicably.”

“Alec,” Robert shook his head, “you know that the life of a police officer ... I can’t even have kids ... not if I want to live to see the old day lights. My wife’s even prepared for me to die at a moment’s notice.”

“Yeah,” Alec looked a bit subdued at the statement. He knew that the cost of becoming a police officer meant that relationships were hard ... anyone could die at a moment’s notice or be blown to smithereens by a Mage’s spells ... which was why he loved Anna.

It wasn’t because of the fact that he needed someone to hold onto, someone to care about, it was because Anna provided the half part of him that he had been missing ever since the early death of his parents, and both knew that if they ever got married then kids would be out of the question, as Anna refused to pass on her Mage abilities to her children. But there was a fifty percent chance that their children weren’t going to become Mages, but Anna had already made that vow.

“You guys okay? It looks like you had a rough night or something,” Robert asked, indicating Alec’s hair, which was in slight disarray, “dream anything to give you nightmares?”

Alec blinked at the statement and looked curiously at Robert ... was there something different about his friend? Shaking it off, he realized that his friend was trying to attempt some levity and quirked a small smile, “Nah ... just some-“

The slamming of a door made at least everyone jump and raised voices echoed from the front end of the police station. The voices kept coming towards them and Alec recognized one as Ben’s the other’s as Franklin, Ben’s older brother’s voice.

“Well you tell him to shove it up where it belongs!”

“No! You don’t understand-“

“Oh hell yeah, I understand perfectly. He’s being a pain in the ass.”

“So? That doesn’t mean you have to give him such a hard time!”

“Yes it does, Frank, yes it does!”

Ben came charging into the common area and headed straight for his office, Frank hot on his heels as the two brothers passed by all and the door to Ben’s office slammed close, muffling the sounds of shouting and a few curses that came this way.

Alec stared at the door ... wondering what was that all about when turned to see Liz, walking in, an expression of irritation lighting up her face. She was glaring at the door the two brothers were in then as if suddenly, noticed that they were sitting there, smiled at them.

“Hi guys,” she said, “hi Robert.”

“Detective,” Robert greeted kissing her hand to which Liz laughed lightly.

“You know that if Frank sees you doing that you’ll be working in jail duty for the rest of your life,” she teased then swept around the desk and plopped herself into another empty chair next to them.

“Then I think I’ll be going somewhere else for now ... I’ll see you later Alec, Detective Elanore, Miss Ruthersfield,” Robert grinned at them before walking away towards the kitchenette.

“So,” Liz turned towards them, “do you mind if I ask you a question. I mean it might sound a bit awkward, but please ... humor me?”

“Um ... sure,” Anna replied, tilting her head slightly and Alec nodded, giving his full attention to her.

“All right ... Anna you’re a multi-believer right?” Liz asked.

“Yes ...”

“And you know somewhat how to interpret dreams right?”

“Uh ... sort of ...”

“Okay,” Liz took a deep breath then continued, “can you tell me why I’ve been having this dream where I’m like killing something and it’s trying to reach me. I get stabbed and then I am injured ... someone calls my name ... like Eo-something-“

“Eowyn?” Anna put in gently.

“Yes!” Liz looked to be near hysterics before she suddenly froze and stared at Anna ... then did a double take and stared at Anna again before her wide light blue gaze met Alec’s and did another double take. “Arwen ... Aragorn?”

* * * * *

Ben slammed a fist against his desk, scattering papers and reports that he had been working on last night onto the ground and gritted his teeth in frustration. “Dammit, Frank, stop trying to defend Father!”

“I’m not, you git!” Frank shouted back and Ben glared at his brother, “I’m only trying to tell you to reason with him! You know how he is!”

“Yeah, sniveling, brattish, and little cunning son of a bitch, that’s what he is!” Ben shouted back, “He’s just like he used to be, a fallen Steward of Gondor!”

“That was your fault, Boromir!”

“No, it wasn’t. I was trying to find a way to bring Gondor out of the light, Faramir!”

“Well if you haven’t gotten yourself killed-“ Frank stopped in mid sentence and Ben looked up to see a shocked expression on his brother’s face and stared at him.

“What?” he asked, clueless to the expression on his brother’s face.

“Did you ...” Frank swallowed, “did you know ... what you said?”

“Yeah, I said that Father was a sniveling-“

“No, forget that,” Frank cut him off with a slice of his hand in the air, “you said Father was like he used to be, a fallen Steward of Gondor ...”

“Yeah, and ...” Ben motioned for his brother to continue on before it the reasoning belted him across the head ... his eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly as he realized what he had said ...

“You’ve been dreaming too?” both brothers asked each other at the same time.

“Yes,” they replied to each other’s question at the same time.

“Oh my God ...” Ben sat down heavily in his chair while Frank leaned against the desk, head bowed then he looked up and the two brothers stared at each other ...

It was only a soft knock that startled the two from their shock and they jumped at the sound. Ben rubbed his face before he gruffly said, “Come.”

As the door opened Alec stuck his head in, “Um ...”

“What do you want Aragorn?” Ben asked tiredly, still not over the initial shock when he froze with what he was doing and the papers that he was trying to shuffle together dropped once again on the floor. He looked up towards the door to see shock also written on Alec’s face ... or was that Aragorn’s face that was staring back at him?

“Okay ...” Alec quickly stepped in and closed the door behind him and leaned against it, “now I really know that I’m not the only one going crazy ...”

“This is total bullshit,” Ben commented as he bent down and picked up the papers he dropped, “but part of me believes it, part of me doesn’t.”

“Same here,” Alec agreed, “but I think we are the Reincarnations of the former Fellowship ...”

“And you’re telling me that J.R.R. Tolkien’s book exists?” Ben almost laughed at the absurdity of the statement.

“It could ...” Frank looked thoughtful, “I mean ... that would mean that Liz is Eowyn ... who married Faramir, and Anna is actually Queen Arwen Undomiel ...”

Ben wanted to laugh but something in his brother’s words made him quell that laughter down. He glanced out, beyond where Alec was leaning against the door and did realize with a start that Anna Elanore did look a lot like Arwen Undomiel, with the exception of the lack of Elven ears that made her distinct from humans, and Frank’s fiancée Liz did look a lot like Eowyn from what he read in Tolkien’s books ... after all he, if he was Boromir, did die to defend Frodo Baggins from the Uruks and Orcs at Amon Hen.

“Then why are we all here?” he asked.

“I think it’s the reason that we’re all warriors ... or something of that nature that brought us all here ...” Alec looked a bit troubled.

“Then tell me where is Eomer’s Reincarnation?” Ben asked, “I read in Tolkien’s books, if they are true to history, that Eomer had fought with the two of you ...”

“Oh my God ... I think he is here,” Frank replied suddenly, “but not here in that way ... Liz told me that her brother was a renegade of the United States Army and has his own little force who patrols between the two major cities of New York and Boston ... just like the Rohirrim from Tolkien’s books.”

“Shit ... you have got to be kidding me,” Ben resisted the urge to slam his forehead against his desk as he dropped his papers again. This time though he didn’t bother to pick them up, as he knew that somehow he was going to drop them again in either shock or surprise.

“Then why now? Why all of us together?” he stared at Frank and Alec, willing them to give him an answer when a sudden shout of warning muffled by the door came from outside in the common area and the door suddenly was blasted open.

* * * * *

Anna stared at Liz ... finally seeing the tiny bits and pieces of Eowyn come together in her mind. She couldn’t really believe it that her partner was Eowyn, the shield-maiden of Rohan. And she herself was formerly an Elf ... an Elven Princess to say the least, then a mortal Queen of the race of Men.

It was Tolkien coming to life ...

It was insanity ...

It was nothing but a hallucination ...

Nothing but a dream ...

But dreams did come true ... and dreams were sometimes real ...

And without denying the fact, Anna knew that in her heart, mind, body, and soul, she was Arwen Undomiel and Anna Elanore. She was formerly an Elf and now a Vernomage.

“It’s daunting isn’t it?” Liz asked softly, staring at her lap, which her hands were placed on, “I mean ... I’ve always felt out of place when growing up ... like I wanted to protect something or someone. When ... I met Frank, something inside of me said that I had found the person I was trying to protect ...”

“I know ...” Anna placed a comforting hand on one of Liz’s, “but the thing is ... why now ... why were we suddenly given our memories of our previous life back?”

“A warning?” Liz asked, her blue eyes full of worry.

“Maybe,” Anna replied and was about to say more when David came into the common area, holding what seemed to be a half emptied cup of hot chocolate, a wide grin on his face.

“Auntie Anna!” David said cheerfully, placing the cup down and running up towards them, “do you know where Uncle Alec is?”

“He’s in a meeting, at the moment,” Anna replied warily, the sudden uneasiness from last night returning as she met David’s gaze, “I wouldn’t want to bother them ...”

“Oh ... okay ... I’ll just wait outside,” David replied and skipped off to wait at the door to Ben’s office.

“Remind me never to give him hot chocolate,” Robert’s voice spoke from her left and she turned to see him standing with a crooked smile on his face. The feeling of uneasiness got stronger as Anna stared at Robert. She noticed that he was pale and sweating so much even though it was very temperate in the building ...

“Robert?” Liz asked, “are you okay?”

“Hmm?” Robert replied, “oh yeah ... I’m fine. It’s just very hot in here though ...” He wiped sweat off of his brow with his sleeve, but even more sweat began to bead on his forehead.

“Robert,” Anna stood up slowly, “are you sure you’re okay? You were just fine a few minutes ago ...”

“Yeah,” the sweat had begun to fall like rain drops and Anna noticed that his once fine black skin was beginning to turn an ugly pale color ... as if he was loosing all of his pigmentation. Anna had only seen skin turn that color once in all her life ... but she knew what was the cause of it ...

“Liz ...” she warned her partner who had also started to back away, “stay close ... ”

“Anna?” Robert’s breathing had begun to become labored, “what’s wrong?”

Taking a quick glance at the door that was Ben’s office she noticed that David’s hands were glowing red ... and he was placing his small fingers and palms on the door…

“Alec!” she shouted a warning towards the people inside of the office just as Robert, an Undead, launched himself at her, skin now a pale white color, almost transparent, saliva drooling down his face, his eyes bloodshot.

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